Cubs 11 - Phillies 6

Losing 11-6 to the Cubs is tough, but it is by no means the end. The Phillies will likely find themselves one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the wild card race (the Padres are leading the Dodgers by four runs in the ninth inning as I type this...although back to back homers by Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew make it a 2-run game in the bottom of the ninth...we'll see what happens...EDIT: Wow...back to back to back to back homeruns for the Dodgers tie the game at 9 in the ninth...Marlon Anderson has five hits including 2 homers and a triple...wow) with 12 games left to play. Brett Myers and Cole Hamels are currently scheduled to start 5 of the remaining 12 for the Phillies, so there is reason for optimism. I'd rather get my hopes up and get crushed again than temper my enthusiasm and be "pleasantly surprised" if they do sneak into the playoffs. Believing is better than not believing, right? Game notes from the 11-6 loss to the Cubbies:

LAST EDIT: Dodgers win 11-10 in what may have been the absolute greatest 9th and 10th innings I've ever seen...back to back to back to back homers in the bottom of the ninth tied it up for the Dodgers (including two homers on two pitchers after Trevor Hoffman came in), the Padres scored to make it 10-9 in the top of the tenth, and then, finally, Nomar Garciaparra hit a 2-run homer to win it in the bottom of the tenth (after a Kenny Lofton walk, of course). Was it worth staying up until 2 o'clock in the morning for? You'd better believe it. Anyway, as far as I can tell the Phillies are now 1.5 games behind the Padres for the last NL playoff spot...

• The only day of the week the Cubs have a winning record this year is on Monday. The Cubs were 10-8 heading into last night’s game…and are now obviously 11-8
• “The more you see of that young man in centerfield, the more you marvel” – Harry Kalas on Shane Victorino…Larry Andersen then went on to compare Victorino to a young Andruw Jones (defensively)…
• On a night that Juan Pierre hits a homer…well, it’s just not your night…
• 4^th Inning: Bases loaded with one out, Jose Hernandez at the plate, huge spot in the game (I promise I typed all that out before Hernandez went on to hit the gigantic grand slam that made the game close again)…Hernandez has had some of the worst at bats of any Phillie this season, but he really came through with a phenomenal AB in a big spot
• I didn’t get a chance to actually watch the Phillies much this weekend (and when I did watch it was on mute while the Eagles were on), so I feel a bit out of the loop when it comes to the newest Phillies tradition: The Rick White congratulatory phone call. I saw him on the bullpen phone with Ryan Howard after the big man’s homer on Sunday…and here he was again on the phone with Jose Hernandez after the slam last night.
• “Yesterday this city was on the business end of a comeback (the aforementioned Eagles game), today they try to put together one of their own (close but no cigar, Scott)” – Scott Graham
• 4^th Inning: Great AB by Rollins after the Cubs brought in Will Ohman after the slam (Rollins was patient and didn’t chase any bad balls against a reliever who just got into the game – a rare and beautiful sight). Chase Utley walked later in the inning on four pitches, bringing up Howard with 2 on, 2 out – another HUGE at bat – but Howard went down swinging after 3 straight swing and a misses on low and away breaking balls…this failed opportunity would hurt…
• Abe Nunez with another nice night at the plate (he hit the ball hard and had some very good at bats) and in the field (he was excellent all night long)…plus on his double in the eighth inning, we had the joy of seeing Juan Pierre attempt to throw a ball to a cutoff man…he has the single worst arm of any outfielder I have ever seen at the major league level…
• Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is really a heck of a hitter – his homerun on the first came on a swing that produced one of the loudest cracks on contact that I’ve ever heard while watching a ballgame. Ramirez is a player who sits at the top spot of a large number of wishlists for Phillies fans everywhere. Scott Graham sure liked him, saying that he had “one whale of a ballgame” and could potentially be “one whale of a free agent” – get that man a thesaurus. Wheels mentioned the rumblings that Ramirez has a lack of desire and that is why some teams may not pay him big bucks if he decides to opt out of his Chicago contract…
• Jamie Moyer (Tuesday's starter) is the oldest player to ever win a game as a Phillie…I probably should have known that before tonight’s trivia question, but I did not…now I do
• Victorino definitely hurt himself diving after a ball early in the game (on the same play HK and LA were going on about how great a year he was having too…tragic)…he had a horrible at bat in the 7^th, but it was clearly because of his left wrist bugging him so much that he couldn’t even grip the bat properly
• 8^th inning – Matt Smith really knows how to pitch…he stayed away, away, away with breaking balls and then finally came inside with a fastball to strike out Jacque Jones with a man on third and one out…Smith will play a big part in next year’s bullpen, a fact that is a good thing for Phillies fans who like seeing late leads protected…
• The game ended (more or less) after David Dellucci struck out with Nunez on second after his double in the eighth…Dellucci has really struggled of late, but it may not be entirely his fault…much like Pat Burrell, Dellucci has been playing injured for much of the season…the Phillies are concerned enough about the injury (I believe it’s his wrist) that they won’t make an effort to re-sign him this offseason…that’s all a rumor, so believe it or don’t…